Procedure and apparatus for the installation of an elevator

ABSTRACT

A procedure and an apparatus for plumbing and installing the shaft equipment for an elevator uses a plumbing jig ( 22 ). The plumbing jig ( 22 ) is mounted in the upper part of the elevator shaft from the top floor ( 11 ), plumb lines ( 43 ) are attached to the plumbing jig from the top floor ( 11 ) and, using the plumb lines ( 43 ) attached to the plumbing jig ( 22 ), the shaft equipment ( 28 ) is positioned, whereupon the shaft equipment ( 28 ) is fixed in place. The apparatus includes supporting elements ( 41 ) that can be fixed to the elevator shaft, a plumbing jig ( 22 ) that can be attached to the supporting elements ( 41 ) and mounted substantially from the top floor ( 11 ), and plumb lines ( 43 ) that can be suspended from the plumbing jig ( 22 ) and extend into the elevator shaft ( 2 ) below the plumbing jig.

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of prior PCTInternational Application No. PCT/FI98/00205 which has an Internationalfiling date of Mar. 6, 1997 which designated the United States ofAmerica, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a procedure and to an apparatus for usein the installation of an elevator.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART

For trouble-free operation of an elevator, it is necessary that theelevator should run along a vertical line. The elevator is normallyinstalled in an elevator shaft built from concrete. The guide rails forthe elevator car and counterweight are fixed to the shaft walls usingrail fixtures. During the installation of the elevator, the guide railsand other shaft equipment are adjusted to their proper positions. Inthis context, shaft equipment refers to guide rails, landing doors andtheir mounting brackets. In the vertical direction, the alignment iseffected using plumb lines, which are fixed at a point above the shaftequipment to be installed in the elevator shaft and which extend throughthe whole length of the shaft. It has also been suggested that thealignment could be done using a laser beam, but this method has notgained ground due to the costs and the difficult conditions at the siteof installation.

In prior art, the plumb lines are fixed to the floor of a machine roomabove the shaft and so positioned that they can be used to align theshaft equipment, such as guide rails, and the landing doors. The ceilingof the elevator shaft must be provided with holes for the plumb lines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to develop a new solution forplumbing the shaft equipment in an elevator shaft to their properpositions, a solution that does not require any communication with aspace above the shaft and that can be implemented without working abovethe finished building. To achieve this, the procedure of the inventioninvolves the steps of mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, thestep of mounting being carried out from the top floor and the plumbingjig being below the top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb linesfrom the plumbing jig, the plumb lines being attached from the topfloor; positioning various pieces of shaft equipment using the plumblines attached to the plumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces inplace after the step of positioning. The apparatus of the inventioncomprises support elements fixable to the elevator shaft; a plumbing jigattachable to the support elements and mountable substantially from thetop floor; plumb lines suspendable from the plumbing jig, when suspendedfrom the plumbing jig, the plumb lines extend into the elevator shaftbelow the plumbing jig and are used to align at least one guide rail.

When the solution of the invention is used, all the operations requiredin elevator installation can be carried out from the elevator shaft orfrom a landing. When trimming the plumbing jig, the installers can workfrom a landing, so no scaffolding or temporary erecting stages areneeded. The job can be performed substantially faster than before, whenit was necessary to build a scaffolding for work in the elevator shaftor when the work was done from the roof and a passage to the roof had tobe provided in addition to a separate connection between the elevatorshaft and the space above the shaft. Now, there is no need for elevatorinstallers to go to the roof at any stage, so this allows a cleardistinction to be made between elevator installation and otherconstruction work. In the case of an elevator without machine room, theinstallers can directly communicate with each other throughout theinstallation process.

By using the solution of the invention, the plumbing of all shaftequipment, guide rails and landing door mounting brackets can beeffected with four plumb lines when a gauge is used to position theguide rails for the counterweight. This also contributes towards fasterinstallation and, by using a suitable gauge, the guide rails can beinstalled so that their guide surfaces will be in correct positionsrelative to each other.

A frame used for the plumbing, i.e. a plumbing jig, fixes the positionsof shaft equipment at their proper locations in the vertical direction.When the plumbing jig is moved horizontally during fine adjustment atthe final plumbing stage, the various pieces of shaft equipment of theelevator remain in correct positions relative to each other. Thus, ifthe position of one of the plumb lines has to be readjusted, this can bedone without separately readjusting the other plumb lines.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the invention will be described in detail the aid ofsome of its preferred embodiments by referring to the attached drawings,in which

FIG. 1 presents an elevator shaft in lateral view,

FIG. 2 presents a plumbing jig in top view,

FIG. 3 presents an arrangement according to the invention in lateralview,

FIG. 4 presents another arrangement according to the invention inlateral view,

FIG. 5 presents a third arrangement according to the invention inlateral view,

FIG. 6 presents a fourth arrangement according to the invention inlateral view,

FIG. 7 presents a fourth arrangement according to the invention viewedfrom the top floor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 presents a cross-section of an elevator shaft 2 in side view. Theshaft comprises a back wall 4 and a front wall 6, the latter beingprovided with door openings 8 at the landings 10 and 11, and side walls12. The shaft extends somewhat below the lowest floor, forming a pit 20in which the shaft equipment needed below the elevator car is installed.At the top, the shaft is delimited by the ceiling 16 of the shaft. Thedoor openings are provided with temporary safety walls 18, which mayconsist of e.g. plastic plates, wooden beams or steel bars. According toa first alternative embodiment of the invention, the shaft is providedwith supporting elements 14 fixed to the side walls of the shaft abovethe top floor 11, on which elements the plumbing jigs 22 can be mountedas described below in detail.

The plumbing jig 22 (FIG. 2) is mounted using telescopic tubes 24 placedon the supporting elements 14, the tubes being adjusted to a lengthcorresponding to the shaft width. The telescopic tubes 24 are attachedto profiled bars comprised in the supporting elements 14. When thesupporting elements 14 and the tubes 22 are mounted, their straightnessis verified by means of a spirit level. The plumbing jig consists of twoside bars 26 which, in the depth direction of the shaft, extend from theshaft door toward the back wall of the shaft to the plane of the guiderails 28. Fixed to the door-side ends of the side bars 26 are squareelbows 30, which are further attached to a front bar 32 connecting thesquare elbows 30 to each other. The square elbows are adjustablyattached to the side bars and the front bar, allowing the same mountingjig to be used in elevator shafts of different dimensions. Attached tothe front bar is a plumbing plate 34, which is provided with notches 36located at the positions where the plumb lines for the landing doormounting brackets are to be set. Notches 36′ and 36″ are for differentelevators. Attached to the shaft-side ends of the side bars are plumbingplates 38 for the guide rails of the elevator car, the plates beingprovided with notches 40 for the plumb lines 43 used to plumb the guiderails 28. The attachment of the plumbing plates 38 to the side bars 26can be adjusted according to the dimensions of the elevator shaft. Oncethe plumbing jig has been assembled according to the dimensions of theelevator to be installed, their mutual positions will remain unchanged.Turning or rotating the plumbing jig horizontally causes a correspondingchange in the positions of all the pieces of equipment to be installed.

To carry out the plumbing, a plumbing jig assembly corresponding to theconfiguration of the elevator shaft is set up. The plumb lines aredropped into the shaft and fixed to the positions marked on the plumbingplates. On the shaft bottom, the positions of the guide rail lines aremeasured correspondingly and the plumb lines are fixed in place. At eachfloor, the plumb lines and the corresponding positions of guide railsand landing door mounting brackets are checked. If necessary, the plumbline positions are readjusted to bring the entire shaft into alignment.Installation of the elevator guide rails is started from the lowestguide rail, proceeding one guide rail pair at a time up to the top. Thepositions of the counterweight guide rails are determined by means of aspecial gauge 60, which is used to ensure that the guide rails areinstalled in a straight vertical line and also that the guide rail guidesurfaces are perpendicular and in alignment with the guide surfaces ofother guide rails. The gauge comprises a bar 62 placed between the guiderails in the shaft and provided with aligning points for a plumb line43, and a rod 64 between the counterweight guide rails 67 and 68 and arod 66 between one 68 of the counterweight guide rails and one 28 of thecar guide rails.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate different arrangements for mounting thesupporting elements for the plumbing jig in the elevator shaft. In FIG.3, a supporting element has been fixed to a shaft wall. The supportingelement consists of a horizontal bar 41 whose one end is fastened to anadapter plate 42 bolted to the wall while the other end rests on anoblique supporting bar 44. The supporting bar is attached by its lowerend to another adapter plate 46. When the supporting element is beingmounted, the adapter plates are used to adjust the supporting element soas to bring it into a horizontal position and into alignment withanother supporting element mounted on the opposite shaft wall. Theadapter plates are placed on the shaft wall adjoining the landing, sothe supporting elements are easily accessible and adjustable duringinstallation. The supporting element is preferably mounted above the topfloor so that it is at a suitable height for installers working on thefloor and that the fixtures for all guide rails can be easily positionedby means of the plumb lines 43. The plumbing jig 22 is placed on andattached to the supporting elements.

In the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 4, the supporting element 48 ismounted on the top floor 11, being fixed to the landing floor 50 e.g. bymeans of bolts 52. Alternatively, the supporting element may be fixed toother landing structures. The plumbing jig 22 itself may be implementedas described above.

In a further embodiment (FIG. 5) of the invention, the supportingelements for the plumbing jig are formed from two bars 54 suspended fromthe ceiling 16 of the elevator shaft. The bars 54 are fixed to wirecables or bars 56 whose other ends are fixed to hooks 58 mounted in theshaft ceiling. The vertical position of the supporting elements isadjusted e.g. by means of an adjusting screw fitted at the lower end ofbar 56. In this case, the supporting element is preferably placed at asuitable working height relative to the top floor. The plumbing jig 22may be implemented as described above.

In the fourth embodiment to install the plumbing jig (FIG. 6 and FIG. 7)there are mounting brackets 62, which are fixed to the door jambs 60 onthe top floor 11. The brackets may also be fixed to the side walls ifthere is no front wall or they may be fixed to the edges of the frontwall on the both sides of the door openings 8. According to thisembodiment the plumbing jig 22 can be fixed easily and the mounter doesnot need to stretch himself to the shaft when fixing the plumbing jig.

To install shaft equipment 28, the shaft equipment is lifted from thebottom of the shaft 20 using the elevator car 100.

In the foregoing, the invention has been described by the aid of one ofits embodiments. However, the presentation is not be regarded asconstituting a restriction of the sphere of patent protection, but theembodiments of the invention may be varied within the limits defined bythe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A procedure for positioning and mounting shaftequipment in an elevator shaft, the elevator shaft having a top and abottom, the top of the elevator shaft being adjacent to a top floor, theprocedure comprising the steps of: mounting a plumbing jig in theelevator shaft, the step of mounting being carried out from the topfloor and the plumbing jig being below the top of the elevator shaft;attaching plumb lines to the plumbing jig, the plumb lines beingattached from the top floor; positioning various pieces of shaftequipment using the plumb lines attached to the plumbing jig; and fixingthe various pieces in place after the step of positioning, wherein thestep of mounting the plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting theplumbing jig on a carrier suspended from a ceiling of the elevatorshaft, the carrier being mounted in place from the top floor.
 2. Theprocedure as defined in claim 1, wherein the step of mounting theplumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig above thetop floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.
 3. A procedure forpositioning and mounting shaft equipment in an elevator shaft, theelevator shaft having a top and a bottom, the top of the elevator shaftbeing adjacent to a top floor, the procedure comprising the steps of:mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step of mountingbeing carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig being belowthe top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines to the plumbingjig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor; positioningvarious pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb lines attached to theplumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces in place after the step ofpositioning, wherein the top floor has a landing and wherein the step ofmounting the plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbingjig on a carrier fixed to the landing of the top floor.
 4. The procedureas defined in claim 3, wherein the step of mounting the plumbing jigcomprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig above the top floor butbelow the top of the elevator shaft.
 5. A procedure for positioning andmounting shaft equipment in an elevator shaft, the elevator shaft havinga top and a bottom, the top of the elevator shaft being adjacent to atop floor, the procedure comprising the steps of: mounting a plumbingjig in the elevator shaft, the step of mounting being carried out fromthe top floor and the plumbing jig being below the top of the elevatorshaft; attaching plumb lines to the plumbing jig, the plumb lines beingattached from the top floor; positioning various pieces of shaftequipment using the plumb lines attached to the plumbing jig; and fixingthe various pieces in place after the step of positioning, wherein theelevator shaft has at least one wall and wherein the step of mountingthe plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig onsupporting elements attached to the at least one wall of the elevatorshaft.
 6. The procedure as defined in claim 5, wherein the step ofmounting the plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbingjig above the top floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.
 7. Aprocedure for positioning and mounting shaft equipment in an elevatorshaft, the elevator shaft having a top and a bottom, the top of theelevator shaft being adjacent to a top floor, the procedure comprisingthe steps of: mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step ofmounting being carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig beingbelow the top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines to theplumbing jig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor;positioning various pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb linesattached to the plumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces in placeafter the step of positioning, wherein the top floor has a top floordoor with jambs and wherein the step of mounting the plumbing jigcomprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig on the jambs of the topfloor door.
 8. The procedure as defined in claim 7, wherein the step ofmounting the plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbingjig above the top floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.
 9. Aprocedure for positioning and mounting shaft equipment in an elevatorshaft, the elevator shaft having a top and a bottom, the top of theelevator shaft being adjacent to a top floor, the procedure comprisingthe steps of: mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step ofmounting being carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig beingbelow the top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines to theplumbing jig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor;positioning various pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb linesattached to the plumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces in placeafter the step of positioning, wherein the top floor has a top floordoor and wherein the step of mounting the plumbing jig comprises thestep of mounting the plumbing jig on a front wall of the top floor door.10. The procedure as defined in claim 9, wherein the step of mountingthe plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig abovethe top floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.
 11. A procedurefor positioning and mounting shaft equipment in an elevator shaft, theelevator shaft having a top and a bottom, the top of the elevator shaftbeing adjacent to a top floor, the procedure comprising the steps of:mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step of mountingbeing carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig being belowthe top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines to the plumbingjig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor; positioningvarious pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb lines attached to theplumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces in place after the step ofpositioning, wherein the step of positioning the various pieces of shaftequipment includes the step of using the plumb lines and a gauge whichis placed between the plumb lines and the shaft equipment.
 12. Theprocedure as defined in claim 11, wherein the step of mounting theplumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig above thetop floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.
 13. A procedure forpositioning and mounting shaft equipment in an elevator shaft, theelevator shaft having a top and a bottom, the top of the elevator shaftbeing adjacent to a top floor, the procedure comprising the steps of:mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step of mountingbeing carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig being belowthe top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines to the plumbingjig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor; positioningvarious pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb lines attached to theplumbing jig; fixing the various pieces in place after the step ofpositioning; and installing the shaft equipment by lifting the shaftequipment from the bottom of the shaft using an elevator car.
 14. Theprocedure as defined in claim 13, wherein the step of mounting theplumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbing jig above thetop floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.
 15. A procedure forpositioning and mounting shaft equipment in an elevator shaft, theelevator shaft having a top and a bottom, the top of the elevator shaftbeing adjacent to a top floor, the procedure comprising the steps of:mounting a plumbing jig in the elevator shaft, the step of mountingbeing carried out from the top floor and the plumbing jig being belowthe top of the elevator shaft; attaching plumb lines to the plumbingjig, the plumb lines being attached from the top floor; positioningvarious pieces of shaft equipment using the plumb lines attached to theplumbing jig; and fixing the various pieces in place after the step ofpositioning, wherein the step of mounting the plumbing jig and the stepof attaching the plumb lines are carried out without scaffolds orladders.
 16. The procedure as defined in claim 15, wherein the step ofmounting the plumbing jig comprises the step of mounting the plumbingjig above the top floor but below the top of the elevator shaft.